AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent online post, someone used the word "backflip" to describe how we might rebound from a card we don't understand to land on our own unique, intuitive interpretation. This jogged my memory about something I once read regarding reversals. One of the more unique ways I've ever seen for handling reversed … Continue reading Doin’ the Backflip
Tarot Techniques
Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a well-worn cliche that nothing presented in a tarot reading is carved in stone; any outcome is subject to adjustment by timely action (and, it must be said, negligent inaction) of the seeker. However, there are cards that lean toward a fortunate outcome no matter how ill-favored they are by surrounding cards, … Continue reading Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
The Malleable Clay of Probability
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another 3:00 AM meditation that is trying to turn itself into a full-blown essay. Divination with the tarot cards is an unlikely craft that presumes to mold a reasonable approximation of upcoming circumstances from the malleable clay of probability with nothing more than the symbolic images on the cards and a … Continue reading The Malleable Clay of Probability
Why Ask “Why?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jungian tarot author Sallie Nichols made a strong case for why it isn't helpful to ask "Why?" of the tarot cards. I gave her a fair hearing but came away unconvinced. In her lengthy chapter on the Wheel of Fortune in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey (which I've been wading through in half-hour … Continue reading Why Ask “Why?”
Detachment, the Master Key to Objectivity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've yet to meet a tarot beginner who hasn't agonized over whether an emotionally unsteady state of mind will improperly bias the outcome when reading for themselves.* This can certainly happen (for example, in stressful romantic situations), but it doesn't have to. For the record, divination with the cards is an emotive storytelling … Continue reading Detachment, the Master Key to Objectivity
“The Kid-Glove Treatment:” A Soft Approach to Reversals
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This meditation on reversed cards joins more than a dozen other unconventional approaches I've already examined in past essays, while revisiting some of my earlier observations. (See my two "compendiums" [compendia?] of earlier posts on the subject elsewhere in this blog.) "Kid gloves" were made from the exceptionally supple hides of baby goats … Continue reading “The Kid-Glove Treatment:” A Soft Approach to Reversals
The “Do/Don’t Do” Problem-Solving Spread (with “Bottom Line”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tarot spreads frequently include positions for "Do This" and "Don't Do That." Here is a problem-solving spread that expands on that premise by offering two paths, one involving active disposition of situational factors in five areas and the other suggesting either inaction or a more passive stance in those aspects of the matter. … Continue reading The “Do/Don’t Do” Problem-Solving Spread (with “Bottom Line”)
A Ranged Approach to Event Timing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Accurately predicting the time of occurrence for unscheduled events or the rise of unplanned circumstances is one of the thorniest challenges in divination. I still think the best way to pose timing questions is simply to ask "What will happen in my <insert situation here> over the next <week/month/year>?" However, it is possible … Continue reading A Ranged Approach to Event Timing
The “Philosopher’s Scorecard” Problem-Solving Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any armchair philosopher and cerebral cartomancer who has ever encountered a complex problem-solving scenario has most likely waffled between the various ways to tackle the solution: emotionally, intellectually or intuitively. Rather than just throwing down a series of cards and reading them, the diviner tries to finesse the situation by "what-iffing" it to … Continue reading The “Philosopher’s Scorecard” Problem-Solving Spread
“Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I occasionally encounter questions about ways to contact the spirits of the departed and other disembodied entities using the tarot cards. Through my esoteric studies and practice over the last fifty years I've become familiar with the principles of "astral pathworking" using the Major Arcana, but that is a more disciplined - and … Continue reading “Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 